5 health facts women should know about protein

The interest and awareness about the role of protein in health and fitness has exploded in the last few years. However, a lot of confusion remains about what type of protein to use, how much you should have, and how good is it really for your health, particularly for women.

Protein isn’t just for building muscle

Far from the common assumption, we don’t build muscle in the gym, we break it down in our workouts and build them outside the gym. To do this, you need to have sufficient protein so that your muscles can grow stronger.

Not only is protein needed for building muscle, it’s used to produce hair, blood, enzymes, hormones and neurotransmitters. For example, the amino acid tryptophan is used to make serotonin, our ‘happy’ neurotransmitter. Additionally, protein has also been shown to soothe an inflamed gut¹. Wins all around!

Protein can be useful for keeping you energised and satiated

Compared to carbohydrates, protein takes longer to digest and breakdown. This longer digestion time means that you’ll be fuller for longer and you won’t get hungry as quickly, so it’s easier to maintain your weight and caloric intake.

You also need more calories to digest and absorb protein than you do for fat or carbohydrate (also called ‘thermic effect of food’). This means that you might experience a more significant weight loss on a high-protein diet compared to a low-protein diet.

Protein won’t make you bulky

Women have a small fraction of the hormone testosterone compared to men. It’s this testosterone that’s needed to build lean muscle, so it's far more difficult for women to build bulk like your male counterparts

Not all protein sources were created equal

Protein is made of chains of amino acids, of which there are 20 different types. 9 of these are ‘essential’, meaning we can’t make them on our own so we need to get them from our diet. When a protein source contains all 9 of this amino acids, it’s called a ‘complete’ protein.

Meat sources of protein tend to always be complete but unfortunately the same is not true for vegetable sources of protein. If you’re vegetarian, it’s good practice to combine sources of protein (i.e rice and beans) to make sure you’re getting all the essential amino acids.

Excessive protein isn’t necessarily better

Adding protein to your diet when you’re active or looking to improve your health can be very beneficial to your health, but adding excess amounts of protein to your diet can end up being counterproductive. Whilst meat is a high protein source, it can also contain a lot of saturated fat, and whilst protein bars and shakes can be a great way to make sure you’re getting all the amino acids (particularly if you have a diet light/devoid of meat), they can contain as much sugar as a candy bar. Inadvertently, this can cause you to increase your daily caloric intake. 

Make sure you consider the ‘protein package’: fats, carbs, vitamins and minerals that come with your protein. What you’re aiming for is a source of protein that’s low in saturated fat, trans fats and processed carbohydrates but rich in nutrients. That's why VITL Pea & Hemp Protein powder is clean (non-GMO, low in carb and sugar), lean (low fat) and comes enriched with vitamins and minerals. Each 25g serving contains a whopping 17g of protein but only 124 calories and comes in 2 flavours; chocolate, made with Ghanaian cacao, and vanilla, made with natural vanilla extract. 

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